Tony Stark Takes Charge

Kamar-Taj, reception room

After dealing with Strange, who had just come here to cleanse his soul, the Ancient One sat back down, boiled water, and made tea.

It had been six months and three days since Lin Xu disappeared. She missed him!

A month ago, the Ancient One, unable to bear a life without retirement any longer, broke the rules and used a form of dark magic: Dreamwalking!

It was a kind of Chaos Magic that allowed one to communicate with another version of oneself in the Multiverse through dreams.

Thirteen Ancient Ones: four male, eight female, and, absurdly enough, one black Ancient One. But there was no trace of Lin Xu in any of their universes!

"Strange, which universe did he go to? Or did he not simply cross space, but time as well, and go to a universe without me in it?"

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in." The Ancient One set aside her thoughts and looked at the newcomer. "Master Mordo, how is he?"

"Your Holiness, Strange is very interested in magic, but..." Mordo hesitated, unsure whether to say more.

"Ah, you mean Kaecilius, don't you? Their experiences were indeed very similar. Both came here seeking spiritual solace after the deaths of their loved ones."

"That's right, Your Holiness. Seven months ago, Kaecilius defected and injured me. I spent six months recovering. We already have that precedent, and Strange's experiences are so similar to his that I'm afraid, when the time comes..."

"Kaecilius was my mistake. I won't make the same mistake twice. You don't need to worry about Strange. You may go."

"Yes, Your Holiness!" Although Mordo wanted to say more, he saw that the Ancient One had made up her mind and could only swallow the words on his lips.

Just then, the statue of the Vishanti suddenly burst into a blinding light!

Mordo, who hadn't had time to leave, froze on the spot. "The Vishanti have manifested!"

But the Ancient One sensed three and a half presences within the light!

Agamotto, Lin Xu, an unfamiliar god of time, and Hoggoth, whose presence flickered in and out!

A figure was then "thrown" out of the light, which dissipated immediately afterward!

"Holy shit, did you have to be so rough?"

The newcomer climbed to his feet. It was Lin Xu, who had been sent back by Agamotto.

He immediately rushed over and threw his arms around the Ancient One, paying no attention to her look of disgust!

"Boo-hoo, old man, you have no idea how hard I've had it these past few days! I haven't had enough to eat or warm clothes to wear, and I've had to watch out for people taking potshots at me!"

The pleasant surprise in the Ancient One's eyes instantly turned to disgust.

"Let go!"

She tried pushing him away twice, but he wouldn't budge.

"What have you been eating, kid? How are you so strong?"

With no other choice, the Ancient One used a mystic art to break free. Then she froze.

"What's this?"

The Ancient One looked at Lin Xu's chest, where two pendants hung!

"Ahem... decorations, just decorations!" Following the Ancient One's gaze, Lin Xu hurriedly stuffed the bone armor and the Eye of Agamotto inside his clothes. This rotten old man was full of tricks; he couldn't let him swindle them away.

The Ancient One soon looked away and gave Lin Xu a meaningful glance, while laughing wildly to herself!

Two of the Vishanti had given him their tokens, proving that they had high hopes for Lin Xu. The new Sorcerer Supreme was settled, and that meant she could finally retire!

That was what she thought, but she showed no mercy with her words. "This is the... hard life you were talking about?"

"Don't worry about the details..."

Mordo stood silently to the side the whole time, wondering, Who is this guy? Haven't I been teaching all the novice sorcerers these past few years? Did he join while I was injured these past few months? But there's no reason a sorcerer who just joined would be so familiar with Her Holiness!

"Master Mordo, please leave us for now!"

"All right!"

Only when the two of them were alone did the Ancient One ask, "Which universe did you go to for the past six months?"

"I went to a lot of universes. One Kamar-Taj had no sorcerers, in another Kamar-Taj you were dead, and in another Kamar-Taj... Wait, did you say six months?"

New York, Avengers Compound.

Tony Stark looked at the smaller suit of armor in front of him and couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., remember that operation against Hydra a year and a half ago? The one before Sokovia... All right, you don't remember. JARVIS was still around then."

"Sir, the data was recorded."

"Oh, good. Run a crisis analysis simulation with Baby 3 connected. Simulate a crisis where he runs out of webbing."

"...Simulation complete. No crisis. Baby 3's wearer can adhere to surfaces on his own, with no risk of falling."

"No, F.R.I.D.A.Y., you only considered solo combat. That's my style, not his. That kid's situation is different from mine. If he's on a rescue mission and has someone in his arms, or is holding onto a strand of webbing, there's still a risk!"

Tony only had to think for a moment before rejecting F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s simulation. He stared at the spider design on Baby 3's chest, and after thinking for a moment, an idea came to him.

"A spider can't have just four legs. Give him four more. Also, rename Baby 3 to A15."

Once the nanoprinter started working, Stark asked, "What's he doing now?"

"Mr. Parker went to Washington to compete in a debate tournament, sir!"

"Wow, he actually studies hard too. I thought all he knew how to do was cause me trouble."

"A new superhero appeared in New York a few days ago. Much of Mr. Parker's crime-fighting work has been taken from him."

"You mean that guy the people of New York call Eagleman, Male Hawkman?"

"Yes, sir. Based on his movements, build, the technological direction of his flight wings, and his power unit, the results indicate a 90.8 percent match with Director Adrian."

At the mention of Adrian, Tony fell silent. He knew the man. Lin had recruited him a few years ago and assigned him to the drone research center in Houston ever since.

Then, half a year ago, Lin disappeared. After the search for him turned up nothing, the drone research center moved from Houston to New York two months ago, and Adrian had no choice but to come along.

If he remembered correctly, those two had helped themselves to a few of his Arc Reactors back then.

"Hey, Tony, what are you working on?"

Just then, Rhodey walked in, wearing exoskeleton prosthetics on both legs.

"Mm, looking into someone who stole Mr. Spider's job. Feeling any better?"

"At least I don't have to line up in a wheelchair." Rhodey shrugged and continued, "I was just about to talk to you about that. Senator Ross contacted me just now. He needs us to arrest this so-called Male Hawkman."

"Why didn't he contact me?"

"You'd have to take him off your blocklist for that..."

"Maybe when he retires." Tony paused. He thought of Lin and fell silent.

A minute later, he finally spoke!

"Tell Ross that the Eagle Armor is an aerial rescue unit the Avengers Alliance developed in response to Falcon Sam's defection. It's currently in the experimental stage, carries no lethal weapons, and only takes part in the Avengers' emergency urban rescue missions. I'll provide him with the paperwork afterward."

"Tony?"

Rhodey thought, Developed by the Avengers? How come I don't know about it?

"It's fine. Just tell him that!"

Rhodey left, full of questions!

Just then, Tony's phone rang. The caller ID read: Lin Xu.